PRS DGT 15 David Grissom Signature Amplifier | Assessment

MSRP: (UK) £999 / (US) $1199

Nick Jennison opinions the PRS DGT 15 — a 15-watt, all-tube amplifier developed in collaboration with famend guitarist David Grissom. Designed to emulate Grissom’s favorite classic amps, it presents a flexible tonal vary from glowing cleans to wealthy overdrive. Key options embody a 3-band EQ, a 3-position brilliant swap, enhance, reverb, prime lower, and presence controls, permitting for exact tone shaping. The amp additionally incorporates a tube-bias tremolo circuit with adjustable pace and depth, offering a deep, classic tremolo impact.



To say David Grissom’s collaborations with PRS have been fruitful is an understatement. His signature guitar (the DGT mannequin) has grow to be a broadly beloved extension of the broader McCarty household and a everlasting fixture within the PRS vary. Primarily based on the few hours I spent with it, I can see his new signature amp going the identical means.

The DGT 15 is a single-channel, 15-watt head clad in a really enticing blonde tolex with an identical open-back 1×12 cupboard, and looks like PRS’s tackle the very talked-about “blonde pedal platform” amp. Given it is powered by a pair of EL84s and sports activities a “Prime Reduce” management, you would be forgiven for anticipating “AC” tones, however the DGT 15 is distinctly American in its voice. It is spherical and even-sounding, with the form of transient assault that may blow candles out within the entrance row. Critically, the assault on this factor is totally bonkers! The clicking of your choose on the strings feels just like the crack of a snare drum, however in some way it is nonetheless comfy to play and straightforward to take heed to. Fairly the magic trick!

Regardless of its single-channel design, there is no scarcity of tone-shaping choices on the DGT 15. There are not any fewer than FOUR methods to sculpt the excessive finish alone – a Shiny swap, a Treble management, a Presence management, AND a Prime Reduce knob. Absolutely no less than a few of these are redundant, proper? Completely not. Whereas all of those controls act on the amp’s excessive frequencies, they every affect the texture and response in subtly alternative ways, permitting the consumer to dial within the good prime finish for his or her guitar, pedals, cupboard, room, and style.

Accessible by both the entrance panel swap or the included footswitch, the enhance perform slams the amp’s front-end for a heat, very natural-feeling overdrive. It is not removed from the ever-present “inexperienced” overdrive pedal, with a pronounced hump within the vocal midrange, however with out the stark discount in low finish. There are additionally two different options you may “tie” to the enhance perform – specifically, the Shiny swap and the grasp quantity. Every of those features may be switched individually with their very own toggle switches, however you may also configure both to change routinely if you have interaction the enhance. This implies you may set your core tone with the intense swap engaged and the grasp bypassed for max headroom; then, if you hit the enhance, the intense swap will flip off, and the grasp will have interaction for a hotter, gainier tone at an applicable quantity degree.

Talking of footswitchable features, the DGT 15 additionally features a fantastically tuned reverb and tremolo, each of which may be accessed with the footswitch. There is a LOT of reverb on faucet, however even with the pot maxed out, it is nonetheless very usable. The tremolo is an actual energy valve bias tremolo and will get ever so barely distorted with the depth maxed out in a means that is extraordinarily musical. It’s going to additionally decelerate to a cease if you bypass it as an alternative of switching off abruptly.

It is pretty to have all these options out there on the click on of a footswitch, however I do have a giant criticism right here – and it is with the footswitch itself! For some cause, PRS insists on utilizing proprietary DIN-style footswitches. This implies in the event you lose (or break) the unique footswitch, you may’t use a generic 1/4″ swap as an alternative. It additionally precludes you from utilizing a contemporary pedal switcher (like a GigRig G3 or comparable) to manage the amp’s features. It is a obtrusive oversight on an in any other case glorious amp.

The PRS DGT 15 is an amp that in some way manages to be easy and simple to make use of, but additionally able to deep and nuanced tone shaping. Each guitar, pickup, and pedal we threw at it dealt with with ease – all whereas retaining its distinctive sonic identification.

For extra data, please go to:

uk.prsguitars.com